The governments of the United Arab Emirates and Israel confirmed this Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled on Sunday to Abu Dhabi accompanied by his wife, Sara Netanyahu, to hold a meeting with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan. Neither party has officially wanted to link this trip with the supposed warning that the UAE would have conveyed to Israel before the attack on October 7, 2023.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife visited the United Arab Emirates yesterday Sunday, September 27, 2026, at the invitation of the Emirati president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed," Netanyahu's office published in a statement.
According to this note, the visit "focused on strengthening the relations between the two countries and on regional challenges." The text details that Netanyahu traveled accompanied by the top officials of Israeli security agencies, including representatives of the Security Council and the Mossad, in addition to the military secretary and the Foreign Policy advisor.
Before the official confirmation, Emirati authorities had acknowledged the meeting, which until then was handled as a secret trip leaked only by media outlets citing knowledgeable sources of the contacts.
The Israeli statement also takes the opportunity to reject the version spread by the U.S. agency AP, which it accuses of spreading "false news" about the purpose of the trip. "The visit focused solely on strengthening the relations between the two countries and on how to face regional challenges," pointed out the Prime Minister's office.
The news agency had reported that the trip responded to Netanyahu's attempt to get Mohamed bin Zayed to deny having personally warned the Israeli leader about the attack by Gazan militias on October 7, 2023, before it occurred.
For its part, the Emirati state agency WAM noted that the Emirati leader received Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi and that both discussed ways to "strengthen and develop" bilateral relations, without providing further details about the content of the conversation.
This same Monday, sources close to the Israeli Prime Minister have indicated that Netanyahu requested Al Nahyan to deny the information published by the newspaper "Haaretz," which stated that the Emirati president had warned the Israeli leader of a possible attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) before October 7.
According to these sources, Netanyahu raised that request during a meeting of approximately one hour held on Sunday, after various media reported earlier this month that the president of the Emirates had called the Israeli Prime Minister a week and a half before the attacks to alert him that Hamas was preparing a large-scale operation in Israeli territory.
The Government of the United Arab Emirates, for now, has not publicly responded to these reports, although it has reiterated that it maintains "open" communication channels with Israel and shares "all relevant intelligence information."